Till The End Of The World
by My Broken Quill
Summary: He had promised Buffy that he would look after Dawn. So he did. Left the slaying to her friends. Took Dawn and ran. Left the dying to them too. He couldn’t look after Dawn if he was dead. He had promised.


**Till The End Of The World**

His world was ending.

X

Even with Buffy's sacrifice the portal hadn't closed in time, a number of beasties had already gotten through, beasties that had been strong enough to crawl through hell itself were regurgitated on this world. They were no match for monsters like that without a Slayer.

He had promised Buffy that he would look after Dawn. So he did. Left the slaying to her friends, took Dawn and ran.

Left the dying to them too.

He couldn't look after Dawn if he was dead.

He had promised.

X

Some days she was the Dawn he remembered, following him around like a puppy on a short leash, yipping at his ankles and forcing smiles out of him. He lived for those days.

Other days she was all diamond tears that cut him, and eyes deader than any he had seen - and he had seen many. It was on those days that he would have to feed her, change her, hold one sided conversations with her. He told her that he loved her. Wanted her. Needed her.

_Till the end of the world._

But she never heard him.

X

For the first few years they knew nothing, he kept them so well hidden that no news got back to them. But soon the silences got to her, she wasn't used to being locked away, seeing the world only through reinforced shuttered windows that kept things in as much as it kept things out.

He knew it wasn't right. Girls like her, made of sunshine and daisies should be out frolicking with baby lambs or something. But he had to keep her safe.

He had promised.

Had to give in a little though. She stopped talking, stopped eating; her once coltish frame became so thin he took to following her around to the loo to see whether she was throwing things up.

They left Russia the very same day, Spike decided the next place had to be somewhere sunny, to remind her of home, they settled in Italy, stayed there for a while. She got better, her cheeks lost their hollowness, her hips actually curved instead of just jutting out in sharp angles that poked him when they slept. She talked and laughed and, during the day, she ran around like a crazy girl in the enclosed courtyard that came with the house. At night he took her out, wherever she wanted, beaches, parks, restaurants.

Soon the money dried up, he had made it last as long as possible, what with them travelling illegally, living in remote corners of the world and spending the money on solely feeding and clothing Dawn. He managed on what he could scrounge. Dawn deserved the best. So he left to get work, mostly muscle for hire, pretty soon though some of the clients figured out what he was. Then they figured out who he was, that's how he heard that Anya, Giles and another boy, maybe Andrew maybe Xander were dead. Died not long after he had fled with Dawn.

He thanked whoever or whatever was up there but didn't dare tell Dawn, knew she wouldn't be thankful. Continued to not tell her anything when more news filtered in. It was Andrew who had died, Willow was rumoured to be somewhere in the East, looking for Oz, Angel was presumed dead and the rest of the Los Angeles gang were confirmed to be dead, rumours of Anya were rife, some said she was dead, some that she had reverted back to being a vengeance demon. If so, good for her, Spike thought.

They had to leave Italy after a while though, Dawn was rather upset but he refused to let her tears move him this time. Talks of more portals opening up around the world frightened him, he wasn't going to stick around and see if it was true.

Wales. Belgium. Goa. Israel. Tibet. Even a brief stay in Australia.

Then it all went to hell.

X

It started with dreams, frightening dreams that had her clutching at him and crying until her throat was hoarse. She told him of places that couldn't be real, horrible places. Places that reminded her of hell.

They thought she was having nightmares about the portal her sister fell through.

Then she began getting glimpses of these places when she was awake. Just for half a second at first, then more. These were the worst, she would scream for him, unable to see him, and he would shake her around as he tried to bring her back to him.

She was going somewhere and it looked like she was going without him. He couldn't break his promise so they left for England.

X

The Watcher's Council, now barely more than a handful of old fobs, carried out long tests on her and then scurried towards their dusty tomes whilst giving him wary looks when they thought he wasn't looking. What they found out … well … he just couldn't accept it. He made them look again, and when that didn't change the result he stormed off to find a more acceptable answer, dragging a resigned looking Dawn with him.

But everyone said the same thing.

X

"Dawn," he sobbed, his tears fell onto her face making it look like she was crying too. "Dawn."

She looked up at him, her eyes unfocused and he wondered in what world she was in. He hoped it was a nice one.

They had told him that the world was ending anyway, Buffy's sacrifice had been too little too late. Sure her blood had closed the portal, but only temporarily, after all, she wasn't the Key. Soon they opened again, and this time not just one, many, all over the world and with now Key to close them up, or sisters to die for them, they stayed open.

People had looked for her, hoping to kill a little girl and save the world but no one had been able to find her what with Spike keeping them so hidden and all.

So the world was ending, demons were running loose, humans were just happy meals on legs just waiting to be bought. So what need of a Key?

Now that she had no purpose they told him that the spells keeping her here, keeping her Dawn, were disintegrating. They didn't know how much time she had but probably not long, they said, and then she'd be … nothing. Just an age old being in existence with no thoughts or body or feelings or memory.

She wouldn't even remember him.

"I love you, Dawn, did you hear that? I love you," he repeated frantically. He couldn't do anything to stop this but he'd be damned if she went without knowing that he loved her. "Dawn, please, I love you, god Dawn, god no."

Her breathing hitched and her eyes widened, she was looking beyond him, through him, he lifted her head onto his lap trying to keep her gorgeous brown hair clean from whatever was on the ground of the dark alleyway. If Buffy ever found out that he let her little sister die in some alleyway in Sunnydale … god he always had the worst timing for humour.

"I don't know what I'm going to do without you Dawn, Dawn? Please … Dawn." Screams choked up his throat and he leant into her hair to compose himself, it wouldn't do to have some beastie hear him and demand a share of one of the last few remaining humans around.

"Spike," came a quiet voice that he almost didn't hear. Startled he pulled back and looked down at her, she looked back up at him, her eyes focused for once.

Looks like god was giving him a reprieve. _Thank you._

"Dawn - god - I -_Dawn._" Forever more he would probably look back on this and hate himself for wasting precious seconds saying nothing but gibberish. But for Dawn's tired but radiant smile you would think that he had revealed the universes truth to her, the same look she always gave him, like he could cure cancer and buy Disneyland for her.

"I love you too." Tears gathered at the corners of her eyes, "I know -" her eyes slid out of focus but she carried on hoping that he could hear her. "I know that they said - Spike!" The look of fear on her face had Spike clutching at her and screaming her name, forgetting about demons that could be heading his way or that shaking her never worked. "They said that I won't remember you," she ploughed on, whispering as if afraid something would hear her, "but I will Spike, I won't forget you. I won't! _I promise_ -"

With a bitter chuckle Spike added on the ending.

_Till the end of the world._

_X_

_It hadn't looked painful. There were no big bangs or clashing of bells or annoying narrator voiceovers , she just sort of faded away leaving behind the hollow shell that had once housed her. _

_And leaving behind Spike as well. Just another hollow shell that housed a demon that shouldn't feel but did. A demon that felt too much. Trust him to end up with a demon that could love._

_He buried her with her family, in the Sunnydale graveyard where her mother, sister and many of her friends were buried too. Couldn't give her a pretty headstone like them, what with all the humans being dead and all but he gave her a nice prime position under a big old tree that looked like it would stand the test of time and scratched her name into the trunk with his pocket knife._

_'Dawn Summers,' that was all, it should be enough, only he was left to remember her after all, and anyway, to him, those two words meant the world._


End file.
